Sizing machine



April 23, 1929 E. A. WHITE 1,710,199

SIZING MACHINE Filed May 18, 192 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR I rri'm'ce & N 1 T J1 m ATTORNEY April 23, 1929.

3 Sheets-Sheet Filed May 18 1927" av (M/ MTSQRNEY o o o o o o o 0 o o bu h n 0 NM} UR 0 V m 7 m5 v v Q MN NW v o 0 0 0 o o o 0 o J v n. C 1 %m 3 WW R v REE April 23, 1929; A, w E 1,110,199

srzme paws Filed May 18, 1927 s SheetsfSheet 5 INVENTOR gm- MORNEY Patented Apr. 23, 1929.

i f r 1,710,199

EDWARD A. wm rnor LEWISTON, IDAHO.

SIZING MACHINE.

Application filed May 18, 1927. S,e1*lal No. 192,332.

'er for an entity, the holder being adapted to.

rece-ivethe entity laterally thereof and dis charge or release the entity lengthwise thereof. l

Mechanism is provided for delivering fruitent-ities to the holder, one at a time, and sizing 'lllGClliUllSHl. co-acts with the holder to eject I the entities therefrom, said mechanisms mutually co-acting in a novelmanner to'insure delivery of the entities to said holder, one by one. I

A further novel feature resides in sizing mechanism having sizing elements in the form of plates, said plates being somanipulated as to cause the upper en ds thereof to form. re ceiving throats for the entities to be sized, the lower ends beingmovable in varying de greesof parallel, converging and diverging relation in the pertorn'ia-nce of the sizing and releasing function. i

A further feature of the invention. resides in novel means for advancing the sizing plates throughout an endless path of travel, the plates being. proportioned and mounted in such a novel manner that during their progress through inactive laps of travel, they will overlap and be maintained in compact relation.

A further novel feature consists in provid-.

ing an entity holder of skeleton. form ation and equipping the sizing plates, each with an ejector adapted to pass through the holder in functioning to shift the entity onto the SIZ- ing mechanism.

A further novel feature Consists in co-act ing sizing plates wherein the ejector of one plate will eject an entity onto the next foremost plate, with respect to the direction of travel, the entity thus being supported partly on such foremost plate and the next rearward plate prior to the releasing action.

A further feature of the'invention resides in novel means for cushioning delivery of the entities from said plates into the be): or receivers with. a view of avoiding injury to the entities. In. this connection, this feature of the invention involves flexible delivery aprons attached to the plates in such a manner as to trail the latter.

A further feature of the invention resides in novel belt means for delivery of fruit entities of different grades to a series of iruit holders, the device involving a primary belt functioning to deliver one grade of entity to one holder, means being provided for shunting the different grades from the auxiliary belts onto the primary belts and finally shifting the entities from the primary belt onto the proper holder.

The invention has many other objects and features which will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings I Figure 1 is a plan view showing the most improved form of my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of F ig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 3 is a sectional view on line 33 'ofFig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 6 is a plan view of one of the sizing plates and the apron attached thereto.

Figure? 1s an edge view thereof. Like characters of reference design ate similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

Before describing the sizing mechanism in detail, I will first describe the means and manner whereby the entities are delivered to said mechanism and in order to make general .whieh, as will be seen by reference to Figure l, are disposed in parallel relation, all the belts running 1n the same direction, as indicated by the arrows. These belts lead from any suitable source of'supply from the leftof Fig. 1, all the apples or other entities of all sizes in one grade, being depositcdon the primary belt 5. The entities of all sizes of another grade will be advanced by belt 6; belt belt toward holder A,through entrance 2.

' titre through entrance 3 toholder B. V

fleetor extencs across belt 7, from wall 15,

.A deflector extends in parallel relation with deflector 8, acrossbelt 6 from dividing wall 11, to dividing wall 12, to'shunt theentilies initially deposited on belt 6, over to priv belt 5. A; deflector 13 extends from diall 12 to wall 1, for shunting the en- A deto wall 16 for shunting entities from belt? to belt 6. A deflector 15, extends across belt (i from wall 16 to wall 17 for shunting entities from belt 6 to belt 5. A deflector 18 extends across belt 5, from wall 17 to wall 1 for shunting entities through entrance 4 to holder 0. I have shown a bottom wall 19 serving for all the upper laps of belts 5, 6 and 7 and the dividing walls 9, 11 and 15.

It will thus be seen that the primarybelt 5 functions as a 'delivery agent for all three holders, A, B and C and for all sizes ofall grades of entities, the grades being isolated from each other as shown and described by thedisposition of transfer devices. I will subsequently describe the manner in which this belt delivery mechanism and the sizing mechanism co-act in causing or limiting delivery of entities to the holders, one at a time, irrespective of the relative juxtaposition of the entitieson the belts. It may also be stated that the delivery belts will be operated approximately at the same speed at which the sizing mechanism is advanced. 7

Reference will next be made to the sizing mechanism and the means for operating the vertical laps of travel, as will'be clearly seen by reference to Fig. 3. Wheel 23 is mounted upon a shaft 27 which may be journaled in suitable bearings 28, one only being herein shown. Shaft 27 may be a drive shaft to which power may be applied in any suitable manner such as a belt 29 and pulley 30. Shaft 31, on which wheel 24 is mounted, may be journaled in bearings 82, oneonly of which is shown. mounted, and shaft 3el on which wheel 26 is Shaft 33, on which wheel is mounted, may be journaled in suitable bearings which it is not necessary to show, it bemg merely suilicient to state that all of said per horizontal lap of travel. It may also be desirable to provide support 21 with a rod support track 3?, as will also be clear from E 5. In practice, the chain 22 will have rods cxtendingla rections erally in opposite u therefrom so that one chain may actuate a six ing mechanism on each side thereof which would thereby balance the stresses to which the chain and rods would be subjected. However, it is sutlicient for thcpurposes of preseating this invention to only show one sizing apparatus as mere duplication thereof to any extent would be obvious.

I will next describe the improvec sizing mechanism.

Said sizing mechanism involves a ries of sizing plates all of which are ide meal in structure and function and only one of which need be described in detail. Each plate coniprises a plate bod or sizin port-ion So which may be formed oi any suitable sheet material. 'l he upper end of the plate is rolled at 39 to form a sleeve which is adapted to be slipped or telescoped endwise onto a rod and which is rotatabiy free on rod 35 to move by gravity about said rod as an axis. upper end of each plate, which is the pivoted end, is provided with an upstanding ejector 40. As a convenient means of forming said ejector it) I may cut tl e same from the stock of the plate as shown at ll, and bend it upwardly intothe augul: r relation shown, withrespect to plate 38. Because of the function to be performed by the. ejector, the latter is located at such an angle to the e trenie c ispositions to which the plate may be moved, that the ejector 40 will always be in a substantially vertical position on the upper The lap of travel. The lower end of plate 38 is bent into a roll 42 and I insert therethrouo'h an actuating rod 4-3 that projects on opposite sides of said plate 38, as clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

As a means of actuati to perform the'r s1 f ng the sizing plates iuncl'iou. I have provided cam tracks a l, both of which are identical in function and structure and only one of. which need be described in detail. It may also be stated that the cams or cam tracks are arranged to divide each grade into three although a greater or less number may be pro vided if necessary. Therefore in F 2 I will designate three sections of cam n by reference letters D, E and F, section D actiiating the plates for entities from holder A,

I of one grade; section E actuating the plates for three sizes ofentities from holder B; and section F actuating the plates for three sizes of entities from holder C. From a high beginning point 45, section D declines as shown at 46 to the first drop 47. A length 48 holds the plates in a sustained position until drop 49 is reached, and likewise, asustained portion 50 holds the platesin a given position until drop 51 is reached. i Thus it will be seen that while the first two plates 38 to the right ofholder A are in converging relation, the nexttwo plates are in parallelrelation, and

I the next two plates are in diverging relation.

' into the upper horizontal lap.

. ,l'lence, only the smallest size entity dropping into throat G would be allowed to descend between the plates and if it were a medium or large size entity, it would not descend but would be carried to throat H or 1, dependent 1 on size of the entity before it was released.

It will be seen that the sizing function is performed by varying the relation of the sizing plates with respect to each other either into converging, parallel or diverging order. It will also be noted that the plates 38, while in the process of performing their sizing function, are in under lapping relation with re lap of travel the plates 38 take the overlappingposition shown by gravity, thereby insurmg a compact relation during this nonfunctioning portion of travel. ward lap of travel, to the left of Fig. 2,.the plates overhang each other by gravity and come into an effective position to be elevated by the high point 45, of cam 44, as they round I will next describe the improved holder for the entities and as all of the holders are identical in structure and function only one" need be described in detail.

In the present form I have shown a holder of skeleton formation the same comprising a mount bar 52 which may have its opposite ends securely anchored to wall'l and; an opposit e wall 55 Depending from said bar 52 is a pair of limbs 54 which are bent to horizontally extend as at 55, to form aholder. the said portions 55 and 54 belng in spaced relation and said horizontal portions 55 be ing of a length slightly in excess of the length of entrance 2. Furthermore, as will be seen 1 by reference to Fig. 5, said holding portions. are at a slightly lower elevation than wall 19 so that the entities passing through en- On the up-.

trance 2 will descend by gravity to reach the holding port-ions I may provide a run way 56 on which the entities can descend onto the holder, and on the opposite side, I pro vide block 57 to prevent the entities from going too far to the right of Fig. 5, this block 57 acting as an abutment. It will thus be seen that the holder has open back and bottom portions and that the entity held by the holder, is free to be ejected endwise oil from the latter, to'the right of Fig. 1.

Reverting again to the ejectors 40, it will be seen that they pass through the skeleton holder and eject the entity thereon, forwardly onto the next preceding sizing plate. Fur thermore, while an entity is locatedon the holder, and before it is ejected, another entity cannot be fed in through entrance 2 because the apple or other entity would block advancing movement of its successor. Furthermore, the ejector that is actively functioning to eject an entity from the holder would be in close relation and contact with such entity, hence, the next following entity would be bound to enter the holder behind the acting ejector. This insures'delivery of the entities to the holder in a one by one order- The fact'that the primary belt 5 travels at approximately the same speed as chain 22, together with the foregoingco-action, explains the interdependently functioningof the delivery and sizing mechanisms. I I

The release of fruit or like entities, from the sizing plates into subjacent containers, especially apples, or any soft fruits, would very probably subject the latter to bruising,

which, however slight, might reduce the keeping qualities of the fruit. I have therefore devised ways and means for cushioningthe descent of fruit released from the sizing plates, which Iwill next describe in detail.

a flexible apron 58, which is secured to the sizing plates at 59, in such a manner as to trail the free lower ends of said plates. These aprons will advantageously be made of thin, light weightinaterial. probably canvas, and, as shown in said figures, the length of the apron will be somewhat greater than the length'of the sizing plate to which it is attached, although this'is not a limitation of a final and confining nature. However, this length of apron shown, affords an overlapping relation of the aprons such as will eta fectively, cushion the final disposition of the released entities into the boxes in which they are received. In Fig. 4, I have shown three boxes which I have lettered K, L and'M, mounted upon a suitable support 60, in such subjacent relation to the sizing plates between holders A and B, that the trailing aprons will drag over the tops of said boxes in overlapping relation with respect to each other. The-weight of an entity, will sag the aprons before the entity is released therefrom, and when the apronshave advanced far enough to release the entity, it will have only a slight distance to descend until it'engages a portion of. the contents of the box.

Thus, the danger of bruising an entity is re duced to a m nimum.

I have stated that the flexible aprons 58' were secured at their forward ends lIO'tllG/ SIZ- ing plates 59 in such a manner as to trail the free lower ends of said plates, and as. the aprons are DObOtllGFWlSG'SCi1f6l or attached to anything, it will be seen that these aprons are full floating aprons.

hile it is true that the aprons constitute a delivery means the function of which 1s performed subsequent to the functionrof sizing the entities, still, the two operations are practically continuous'and are performed by a structurewhich isunitary, consequently while the'functions performed arenot overlapping, they are at least: sequential and interdependently Suppleme ti It is believed that the operation will be understood from the foregoing description but it may be briefly recapit-nlated as follows. I r I Allsizes of the different grades of fruit will be selectively delivered to the respective entrances of the holders by the belt arrangement 5, 6 and 7, as heretofore described. As each entity'is received in its holder, above the sizing plates, the ejector-s 40 of the latter will eject the entities oif from the holders and the descent down'onto the sizing plates is of such an extremely limited extentthat no possible injury could result therefrom.

At this point it is desired to point out the very, great advantage of feeding the entities into the holders laterally'and ejecting the entities from the holders by a sizing means .niovable in subjacent relation to the holders so that the juxtaposition of the two can thus be arranged, as shown, with the great advantage of affording a limited fall of the entities. V

By reason of the fact that when an entity is received by the plates, it is supported thereby against, descent, initially. thereis no possible way in which such entity can be squeezed between the plates before being released therefrom as whatever objectis being sized,is first supported in the throat of the two plates. 'As the platesadvancathey are gradually adjusted fromconverging to par 7 allel andfinally into diverging relation for release of the entities in'accordance with the size thereof, each size entity being: released at a predetermined point. By reason of the fact that the sizing plates only coact with each other through the medium of the entity interposed therebetween, it will be seen that n a strict physical and mechanical sense,

- afford smooth operation, which is a feature of great importance, in alight duty machine. In order not to obscure the structure, I have shown only a few of the aprons in Fig. 2, the location and operation of the aprons being disclosed more clearly in the enlarged view made for that purpose, although it will be understood that the apron delivery feature is a part of the machine in actual practice.

By reason of the fact that the delivery aprons are at all times in trailing relation to the sizing plates, all danger of entanglement is reduced to a minimum, and the length of the aprons can be so regulated with respect to the boxes and the sizing plates, that deposition of the proper size fruit in the proper box, after leaving the sizing plates, will be at all times assured. I

It is believed that the invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described one specitic form of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereto except for a such limitation as the claims may import.

posed sizing plate.

2. In'a'sizing'machine for fruit or like entities, anientity holder, travelling means for delivering single entities laterally onto said holder, and sizing mechanism travelling substantially parallel to said means and abreast of said holder and having means for-singly ejecting entities from said holder onto said mechanism. I

3. In a fruit or like entity sizing machine, a series ofsizing elements for sizing the entities, and each of said elements having a full floating flexible entity supporting and de livery member.

4. Ina fruit or like entity sizing machine, a series of sizing plates for sizing the entities, and each plate having a full floating flexible entity supporting and delivery cushioning apron. I

5. In a fruit or like entity sizing machine,

a series of sizing plates pivotallysupported at their upper ends and the lower ends being free to take various positions by gravity,

each plate hav- I 7. In a fruit or like entity sizing machine,

a series of sizing plates adapted to be advanced along a path of travel, and each plate having a trailing delivery apron connected therewith, and said trailing aprons being of suflicient length to overlap and coa'ct in delivering the sized entities released from said plates.

8. In a fruit or like entity sizing machine, a skeleton holder adapted to receive an entity laterally thereof and release such entity lengthwise thereof, sizing elements travelling below said holder and having ejectors passing through and ejecting entities lengthwise from said holder,'and means for delivering entities laterally onto said holder, said ejectors preventing delivery to said holder While passing through the latter. i

9. Ina fruit or like entity sizingmachine,

a holder for the entity, travelling niechanisni for delivering entities laterally onto said holder, and travelling sizing mechanism for ejecting entities from said holder, said mechanisms coacting to limit delivery of more than one entity at a time to said holder.

10. A fruit or like entity sizing machine, comprising, a series of linearly disposed entity holders each adapted to receive distinct grades of entities from one side thereof, sizing means for removing said entities from said holders, and mechanismfor delivering distinct grades of entities laterally onto predetermined holders.

11. A fruit or like entity sizing machine,

comprising, a series of linearly disposed entity holders each adapted to receive a distinct grade of entity, sizing means for removing said entities from said holders, and mechanism for delivering distinct grades of entitles to predetermined holders.

In Witness whereof, I hereby afiix my signatnre.

EDWARD A. WHITE. 

